Jon Couture: Back to the drawing board for Cherington, Red Sox

Monday

Aug 25, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 25, 2014 at 12:35 PM

BOSTON — This isn't an idea that needs a terribly fine point on it, but getting kicked around for a week by two legitimate playoff contenders makes it pretty clear where these Red Sox are in these waning summer days.

JON COUTURE

BOSTON — This isn't an idea that needs a terribly fine point on it, but getting kicked around for a week by two legitimate playoff contenders makes it pretty clear where these Red Sox are in these waning summer days.

Wouldn't fault anyone for feeling things are rudderless, hopeless. (Especially not if you stuck out Sunday's four-hour, 15-stranded slog.) That there's not even a core to rely on anymore.

That's a good attitude to have, honestly. Because anyone who tells you they have a clue what this team will look like on Opening Day 2015 is probably mistaken.

Today marks exactly two years from the mega-deal with the Dodgers. The nuclear option, the Nick Punto trade "¦ whatever you wish to call it, it was a deck-clearing gift from above that allowed Ben Cherington to mold the Red Sox however he saw fit.

He molded. They won. And now, a thoroughly awful year shows he must mold all over again.

"We are absolutely committed to building the best team we can in 2013 and beyond, and we're going to do that in the most disciplined way possible," the first-year GM said that trading day. "When we've been at our best, we've made good decisions, disciplined decisions [and found] value, whether it's in the free agent market or trade market."

Or the international market.

I will admit to chuckling at the analysis of Rusney Castillo's arrival peppered with talk of batting leadoff and being "Jacoby Ellsbury's replacement." Last April, we were wringing our hands about Jackie Bradley Jr.'s callup costing the Red Sox control of him in 2019.

The same Jackie Bradley Jr. who's fanned 10 times without a walk while hitting .200 in seven games back at Pawtucket, another lost week in a lost offensive year.

Castillo hasn't played a game in about a year and a half, suspended for trying to defect from Cuba. He's reportedly put on 20 pounds of muscle since successfully defecting in December, completely changing his body from a player scouts couldn't settle on a projection for. (What's all that muscle going to do to his eye-catching speed?)

I wrote way too many gushing Daisuke Matsuzaka stories to be rubber stamping anyone's success in America. However, there are calming caveats. Castillo's been watched and dissected by the Red Sox since 2011. He was almost universally sought after. And for all the "$72.5 million contract" headlines, he'll make just $10.5 million each of the next three seasons before a bump to $11M in 2018-19.

Let's put that in context. Chase Headley, the Yankees' third-base stopgap, is making $10.525 million via arbitration this year. And if we work off the sabermetric calculation that a win on the free-agent market costs between $5-7M, Castillo needs a WAR of just 2.0 to be a bargain.

A 2.0 WAR is what Brock Holt and Daniel Nava have each produced this season.

"Obviously, this is a longterm commitment," Cherington told reporters as the Castillo unveiling on Saturday. "This is not a decision that's being made about next week or next April, this is someone we think will be a core part of our team for a long time and who we hope he'll be part of a talented roster in short term."

That's not entirely vagueness for vagueness' sake. That's a honest response from a man about to throw around a mighty stack of chips.

The Red Sox 40-man roster has eight outfielders on it, if we include Mookie Betts, Allen Craig and Holt, each basically converted because of a logjam in the infield. Then there's the top-ranked farm system. The mere $105 million in contract obligations for 2015 (counting Castillo), leaving more than $80M in space beneath the luxury-tax threshold.

And all in the possession of a GM who's shown a willingness to be bold, to listen to all offers, and — most importantly — to not be beholden to what the masses want done.

It was on this date two years ago that Cherington uttered those oft-repeated words: "We're excited about the chance this gives us to build the next great Red Sox team."

If a player's available via trade, the Red Sox have the means to acquire them. If the down free-agent class has anything of interest, they have the financial means to play there as well.

Worst to first, first to worse than they were to begin with. Nothing about the latter half of that ride should make anyone feel good.

But having someone in place who's done it right once is about the best solace out there.

Jon Couture covers the Red Sox for The Standard-Times. Contact him at jon.couture@bostonherald.com, or through 'Better Red Than Dead' at Blogs.SouthCoastToday.com/red-sox